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The scheme saw a Cumbrian mansion used as the base to grow drugs. Credit: PA

Six people, including a man from Wolverhampton, have been sentenced for almost 40 years for their roles in a multi-million pound drugs operation.

The scheme saw a Cumbrian mansion used as the base to grow drugs. Cannabis worth up to £5.2 million was believed to have been grown in the house in Maulds Meaburn between June 2011 and May 2012.

49-year-old Mark Gallagher, from Wolverhampton Road East in Wolverhampton, was sentenced to seven years for conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Police became aware of possible illegal activity when they received a report of suspicious activity at the mansion. On entering the building, they discovered huge amounts of equipment, ducting and cabling consistent with that used to cultivate cannabis.

An investigation was launched and following enquiries it was estimated that between June 2011 and May 2012. more than 260kg of cannabis had been grown.

Police have discovered a cannabis factory in Birmingham thanks to heat-sensitive technology. The silvery glow given off under the special equipment shows unusually high temperatures coming out of the walls of the home in Nechells' South Tower.

'Glowing' properties picked up on the high-tech equipment are a tell-tale sign of cannabis production as the plants require significant heat and light input to grow.

Days after the flat was identified, officers raided the address and discovered 143 cannabis plants.

On Friday, the owner of the plants was charged with cannabis cultivation and a judge sentenced him to two years in prison, suspended for 24 months, and ordered him to attend a three-month drug rehab course.

28-year-old Benjamin Edwards was also made subject of a two-year supervision order and told to pay £100 costs.

West Midlands Police Deputy Air Operations Manager Martin Knowles, said: "The crew were heading back from a search in the Solihull area when they noticed a clear heat source at a flat in Nechells.

"Our thermal cameras can detect unusually high temperatures coming from properties several thousand feet away anyone growing cannabis on a commercial scale, using rows of heat lamps, runs the very real risk their criminality will be rumbled from the skies."

Police search teams found the plants which had potential to yield drugs with a street value of around £30,000 scattered throughout the Nechells flat which had been modified to accommodate light, irrigation and ventilation systems.

Independent crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers is today launching a campaign to tackle cannabis cultivation in the UK.

This week Crimestoppers and police forces across the country, including the West Midlands, will be distributing “scratch and sniff” cards to the public to educate and inform them about the signs to spot and detect cannabis farms by recognising the specific smell of growing cannabis.

The cards contain an element that replicates the smell of cannabis in its growing state.

Hotspot areas targeted in this campaign include the West Midlands where over 700 cannabis farms were identified by Association of Chief Police Officers across 2010 and 2012.